The sides have discussed the list of oil deposits - old and new - where cooperation is possible and that are interesting for the Russian side

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh

TEHRAN, October 21. /TASS/. Russia and Iran have discussed further cooperation in the oil sphere, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said on Wednesday after talks with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.

"Russia and Iran have discussed further cooperation in the oil sphere. We discussed further steps of cooperation in the sphere, discussed the list of oil deposits - old and new - where we can cooperate and that are interesting for our Russian partners," Zangeneh said.

Novak, who is currently on a two-day visit in Tehran, also met with Iranian Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian and Economy and Finance Minister Ali Tayebnia.

Earlier today, Iranian Communications Minister Mahmoud Vaezi said Moscow and Tehran can allocate up to $5 billion for joint projects.

"It is hard to name a sphere where we do not cooperate or do not plan to cooperate in the future," Vaezi, who also co-chairs Russian-Iranian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, said. "Iran and Russia have great cooperation prospects in the spheres of infrastructure, construction, railroads, energy, construction of new power plants," he stressed. "We also discussed the issues of financially supporting our cooperation. We can allocate up to $5 billion for joint projects together," Vaezi added.

"The current volume of bilateral exchange stands at only $1.8 billion. We think that this does not reflect the true potential. This volume can be increased in the nearest future, by at least 2-3 times," the Iranian minister noted.

"The nuclear agreement between Iran and P5+1 group [five permanent members of UN Security Council and Germany] is entering into force, and it opens a very good opportunity for cooperation between Iranian and Russian companies. I hope that Russian companies will develop large-scale activities in our country," he concluded.